Ethics – My Personal Code for Living by Harry Goldstein

A person’s ethics can come from many different places. They are a combination of all of the factors in your life that can drive you to do or not do something. In my case, my ethics are a combination of my parent’s ethics, my own ethics that I have developed through my experiences, and my religion’s ethics. In general, the focus of my ethics is to be as good a person as I can be. I hope to be remembered by my friends and family as a person who did his best to do the right thing and avoid hurting others.

The ethics that I obtained from my parents are the groundwork for how I live my life. If it wasn’t for their constant support, encouragement, and direction, I would not be the person I am today. My parents gave me my work ethic. They taught me to always do my best when working at something and to never give up. My parents gave me my compassion. They taught me to be kind to others and respect everyone I meet. Most importantly, my parents gave me my ability to develop my own ethics. The ethics that I have developed are the next contributor to the overall picture of my ethics. My developed ethics come from many different places. Friends, teachers, and role models have all helped me to think of some of my own rules for myself. I’ve developed ethics regarding how to act in public, choosing to be respectable even when I don’t know the people around me. I’ve learned about my ethical stance on drugs and alcohol and have chosen to stay away from both. In general, the things that my parents really don’t have control over, I’ve decided how to deal with for myself. The final source of my ethics is Judaism. As my classmates have heard me say before, Judaism is the icing on the cake for my life. Jewish ethics have altered and guided my other ethics over the years. Here and there when I search for an answer and I can’t find it in my parents or myself, I turn to Judaism for the solution. Judaism has helped me take stances on social issues that may not have mattered to me otherwise. Throughout my ethical code, there are bits and pieces that tie everything together; those are from Judaism. Overall, my ethical code is diverse and complicated, and it promises to change and grow over the course of the rest of my life. My ethical code is my roadmap to being a good human being. I hope to leave a positive impact on the world and to be remembered by the good things that I did. I hope to be remembered by my ethics.